IMAX screen is to be installed at Bluewater Shopping Centre in Kent.

IMAX Corporation and Showcase Cinemas have secured an agreement for an IMAX cinema to be installed at the Bluewater Shopping Centre in Kent.

The deal is a first for Showcase, the National Amusements-owned chain that operates cinemas at 20 UK locations, including three Cinema de Lux venues. 

National Amusements operates more than 850 screens globally and has been an IMAX partner since 2001, with a total of five IMAX cinemas in the US, Brazil and Argentina.

Shari Redstone, president of National Amusements, said IMAX “drives incremental revenue for an entire cinema complex”.

The out-of-town Bluewater Shopping Centre ranks among the UK’s five highest-grossing multiplexes.

Andrew Cripps, president of IMAX EMEA, said the giant screen operator is to “continue our network expansion across Europe”.

There are currently 785 IMAX theatres (653 commercial multiplexes, 19 commercial destinations and 113 institutions) across 55 countries.